Henry (or Heinrich) Richter (1772-1857), born in London (1772), studied art under Thomas Stothard, and from the age of 16 was an exhibitor at the Royal Academy. He was also a long term member of the Society of Painters in Oil and Water Colours. A popular and reasonably prolific artist and illustrator, Richter was a devoted disciple of Kant, and a close friend of William Blake. Richter was most suitable to write about plein air painting, as he ‘was a pioneer in painting from nature, in both practice and theory. In 1812 he painted the oil Christ Giving Sight to the Blind, in bright sunlight on the roof of his house in Newman Street; the work was purchased by the trustees of the British Institution for 500 guineas and presented to the New Church, Greenwich. A second version, attempting to improve on its truth to nature, was exhibited four years later. Then, in 1817, he published the pamphlet Daylight: a recent discovery in the art of painting, with hints on the philosophy of the fine arts, and on that of the human mind, as first dissected by Emmanuel Kant. His more general ideas, including his approach to colour and use of models of his compositions in clay or wax, influenced other painters, notably the miniature painter James Holmes. Daylight combined his artistic interests with his study of metaphysical philosophy’ (Oxford DNB). His literary output was slender, and usually of a philosophical nature. He published part of an article on ‘Metaphysics’ for the Encyclopaedia Londinensis, 1814, a paper on German Transcendentalism, 1855; his work on a translation of a metaphysical work by Beck was interrupted by his death in 1857. The present work (12 pages and a further 52 pages of notes) is the only separately published work and, as such, is the most extensive exposition of Richter’s thinking. Richter begins with the insistence that “Originality is the Soul of Art”, before starting his discussion of day-light (as opposed to sunshine). He then employs the device of his own visit at closing time to the celebrated Exhibition of Dutch and Flemish Pictures at the British Institution, where he witnesses a discussion on the subject between the ghosts of Rembrandt, Van Dyke, Teniers, Rubens, et al. A fascinating essay on the artists’ ideas and perception of light, further elaborated in the notes, where Richter closely discusses particular works of art (“The Death of Wolfe”, the Elgin Marbles, Hogarth’s “Harlot’s Progress”, etc.), with reference to his and the philosphers’ ideas of subject / object consciousness, and the implications for artists: “in perceiving, I really contribute something to the phenomenon perceived.” Richter says that refinements and new discoveries in the sciences should be paralleled by continued originality in art. A dense and subtly revolutionary piece of writing, and an uncommon book.